Avatar: the story of Ana and Mei: Part 1: New Paths
by Fletanaya
Summary: Anaaya was six years old when she and her parents were attacked by pirates. They kidnapped her and sold her as a servant. Now, Anaaya spends her days serving a general's daughter, Mei Li. Although they treat her well, Anaaya can't help but yearn a different life, as does Mei Li. Together they leave to travel the world, but their journey isn't without dangers...
1. Prologue: Reminiscence

**Author's Note: **Well guys… This is the very first chapter of my very first fanfiction on here… And I'm kinda excited and scared at the same time. Excited because I'm FINALLY uploading something. Scared, because OBVIOUSLY I don't know how this will be received. :P

**I'm actually looking for a beta-reader for this story, so if you're interested, send me a PM! :D**

_**(I figured that it might be easier to get you guys interested with one chapter already up, 'cause that way you can get a first impression of the story and my writing. I'd really appreciate the help! English is not my native language, so I kinda miss that natural 'feeling' for the language in some aspects(I know it sounds vague, but maybe you get what I mean? :P). I hope someone will be able to help me with that, among other things.)**_

The story will be centred around Mei Li's residence, which is in the Fire Nation Colonies, for the first few chapters. Later on, you will see more places from the Avatar universe and possibly some of the show's characters. I'm a bit hesitant about that last thing, though, since I absolutely don't want to get their personalities etcetera wrong. Nothing worse than a character that's OOC…. :(…. Well I'll see. ;) You'll hear about that later, if you decide to stick around, of course. For now: enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER: **I DO NOT OWN NICKELODEON'S AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS! (Seriously, I own nothing! Not even Haru's awesome moustache TTwTT) I just can't wait for the next episode of season 3 of _The Legend of Korra_! :D

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**Prologue: Reminiscence**

"_Will you show me that trick again, daddy?" Anaaya looked at her father with pleading eyes. Her father looked down at her in faked annoyance. _

"_**Again**__, Ana?" He groaned and Ana nodded eagerly. "You want me to do that __**again**__?" He sighed and got up.  
"Okay then." He bent the water up, letting it circle around him. Then, with a few wrist movements, he sculpted the water into a giant koi. The koi made a few laps around Anaaya, who reached out to touch it, but failed, and then made its way to the river. It sailed into it with a loud splash. _

_Anaaya cried in joy as the water rained down on them and her mother, who was seated beneath a nearby tree, clapped enthusiastically at her husband's display of skill. _

_Suddenly, her father grabbed her and hoisted her up his shoulders.  
"Come here, sea princess!"_

_Anaaya giggled. _

"_Papaaa! Put me down!"_

_Her father shook his head. _

"_Oh no, my lady! A princess needn't walk, of course!" He exclaimed in his best pompous voice. They both laughed heartily. When they calmed down, he put Anaaya down again._

_Her mother smiled softly at them and her father walked over to her. He helped her up and smiled back at his wife endearingly, then turned to Anaaya._

"_We'd best get back. Sheng invited us to dinner with his family and I'm sure Lee would like to see you too." He said. _

_Anaaya nodded slowly. She remembered Sheng, he was one of the local businessmen. His son, Lee, was about her age; they had played in the courtyard together yesterday._

"_Well, well, well. Look what we've got here." Five armed men, clad in red uniforms, had entered the clearing. _

"_What a nice little family." The man who had spoken earlier continued. He had a big scar across his cheek and a smug smile was plastered on his face. The men started closing in. _

"_What do you want?" Her father grumbled. Anaaya backed up until her back was against the bark of the tree. These men scared her. The man with the scar grinned, a malicious glint in his pale brown eyes. _

"_I bet some Water Tribe healers will bring up a fair amount of gold..."_

_At those words, Anaaya's father immediately went into action. He nudged his wife behind him and, with one sway of his arms, swept two of the men away with a wave. He took his wife by the hand and broke into a run towards Anaaya, but was stopped in his tracks by a blast of fire. He stepped back just in time and turned to his attacker, eyes widened. _

"_Why the rush, Fishman?" The man yelled and he and the others advanced. Anaaya looked on helplessly as her father tried to fight them of. She knew that she should leave, but she was frozen in place. Her mother locked eyes with Anaaya and smiled reassuringly, in an attempt to calm her. She looked around to see if any of the men were watching and then started running towards her daughter. Two of the men, however, noticed and one of them knocked her to the ground. Her mother's hands went to her face and Anaaya could see the blood streaming down her nose and down her arms. The other man turned towards Anaaya and started towards her. She screamed and ran away as fast as she could. The man's legs were much longer than hers, though, and he closed in fast. Tears streamed down her face. She looked over her shoulder and saw the man's hooked nose, his thick furrowed eyebrows and his evil look. She grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at the man. It hit him in the head._

"_You little-" the man fumed. She watched him as he touched his throbbing head gently and stifled a smile. Suddenly, she tumbled to the ground; she hadn't been watching where she was going. The man closed in on her and pressed her to the ground. _

"_You're going to pay for this, little brat." He said through gritted teeth. A bump the size of an egg now adorned his forehead. Anaaya struggled under his grip, but the man was way too strong for her. He picked her up easily and dragged her out of the woods. _

_The other men met up with them at their ship, further down the river. Her parents were nowhere to be seen. The man with the scar grabbed her chin and inspected her face. She was still crying, but she still met his eye stubbornly. The man smirked and hummed in approval. _

"_Nice catch, Chumps."_

Anaaya woke with a start and sat up in bed, covered in sweat.

She touched her forehead with her hand and frowned. For some reason, the nightmares were back.

She got out of bed and slid her robe on, it was chilly tonight. The moonlight shone through the curtains and a chilly breeze blew in through the open window.

She walked over to her cabinet and splashed some water from a bowl in her face. She looked at her wavy reflection in the water. She looked horrible.

It was only a few hours past midnight, but she knew that sleep wouldn't come again that night anyway. Therefore, she dressed, tied back her hair and made her way to the servant's mess room, adjoined to the kitchen.

Despite the hour, her stomach was growling. So she took some leftovers from yesterday's dinner our of the pantry and shoved some cold pork and rice down. It tasted like sand to her, but she finished it nonetheless.

With guidance of the moon's light, she stumbled her way to the main hall with double doors, leading to the courtyard. She opened them -the doors squeaked in protest- and stepped out into the moonlight. It was deadly silent. Anaaya moved through the rustling grass and sat down by the pond. She stared at the glowing, rippling water. The moonlight and night air had calmed her somewhat. It always had that effect on her. She guessed it had something to do with her roots.

A sole turtle duck swam around in the pond and curiously made its way to Anaaya. She smiled down at the creature.

"Hello." The turtle duck tilted its head to the side.

"Looks like it's just the two of us. Guess we two are somewhat alike, huh? Both out at night while everyone else is asleep-"

The turtle duck quacked and swam away quickly, as if offended. Anaaya sighed, she even repelled turtle ducks, no wonder she felt so lonely sometimes. A few messenger hawks flew from the nearby communication tower, carrying with them the messages that couldn't wait till morning. If only she could get out of this place too…

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**Author's Note:** ..Well, that was the first little bit. Obviously, there's more to come. The next chapter is ready for uploading already by the way :D

Phew, I made it through the first part… Starting up the story was a bit difficult, since I wasn't sure where to begin. The beginning is always pretty crucial, but I hope I pulled it off. Or was it too dramatic or cliché? :P

The next chapter will be coming soon. In the meantime: please review, since I'd love to hear what you think of this story so far! :D


	2. Chapter 1: Obligations

**Author's Note:** Aaaand I'm back with another chapter. :) It's a looooooot longer than what I posted last week, since, obviously, that was just the prologue. ;) Hope I didn't scare you away with the sudden gain in chapter-length. :P Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER: **I DO NOT OWN NICKELODEON'S AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS! (Seriously, I own nothing! :( How sad…) I just clean the Air Bison's stables at the Eastern Air Temple.

**Chapter 1: Obligations**

Anaaya woke to a gentle nudge. She opened her eyes groggily and looked into the eyes of Hua, Mrs. Leung's lady's maid.

"Wake up, dear. It's nearly sunrise!" She turned around and started to make her bed. Anaaya groaned and pushed the covers back. She swung her feet out of bed and stretched.

When Hua saw that Anaaya was finally out of bed, she shook her head and clacked her tongue.

"I really don't know what it is with you, child, always sleeping in like that… You shouldn't make a habit out of it. One day I won't be here to wake you up!" She cavilled. "Hop now, go dress. I'll get something to eat for you too."

And with that, she was gone. The door was left ajar and Ana saw the few other servants bustling through the hallway, ready to take on another day in the Leung household. She had never been a morning person and it was thanks to Hua that she didn't oversleep every single day. Hua had looked after her from the day that she had arrived at the household and Anaaya knew that Hua had taken care of her as she would have taken care of her own children.

By the time Hua came back, Anaaya was already fully dressed. Hua shoved a few buns in her hands and waved goodbye.

"I'll see you later, dear. That is… if I survive Yu's folly." She winked and walked out the room with a spring in her step. Anaaya grinned and shook her head at Hua's comment. Since Lady Leung was out of town, Yu, the house manager, was left in charge. He was under the Lady's strict orders, of course, and took his job very seriously. As a result, he was uptight and more stressed than Ana imagined could be healthy.

She chewed down on one of the buns and bustled out the door. Although she wasn't quite a morning person herself, her mistress, due to her Fire Nation blood, was and she was sure to rise with the sun. Ana made her way through the deserted halls of the servant's quarters. Apparently everyone was at work already. She hurried on and silently entered her mistress' room.

Her mistress was already out of bed, doing stretches in her nightgown. Anaaya shoved the curtains open, allowing sunlight to filter through the glass and opened one of the windows for fresh air.

Once the task was finished, Anaaya curtsied before her mistress and greeted her.

"Good morning, Lady Mei Li." She said stiffly, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Good morning, Ana. Have you slept well?" Mei Li looked at her lady's maid and responded with a kind smile. Her smile quickly turned into a frown. "You look so tired."

"Oh…" Anaaya bit her bottom lip and realized that Mei Li was probably right. "I had a bit of a restless night, that's all. It's really nothing to worry about, my lady." Before Mei could react, Ana changed the subject smoothly.  
"Now let me help you get dressed." With that, she walked over to the closet and chose a coral coloured robe from the large variety of robes. She liked Mei Li, really, but that didn't mean that she wanted her to probe into her past. It was simply unnecessary and uncalled for that a Lady worry about her lady's maid's life. She walked back to Mei Li, who eyed the robe with disgust.

"Do I really have to wear that?" she moaned. "Can't I just wear my sparring clothes today?"

Ana half-smiled, but shook her head. She found it a pain to wear formal robes too, but she couldn't help that, according to Fire Nation standards, a girl of Mei Li's class had to dress in them.

"Oh no, you can't wear _pants_, my lady!"

"And why not?!" Mei Li exclaimed in frustration. She was in a rebellious mood today, Ana noted. "_You_ get to wear pants and a tunic all the time! Why can't I?"

"Because your family is one of the richest, most illustrious families of the Fire Nation, Mei Li. If I'm right, you're even _nobility_. _And_ on top of that, you're of age now, which means that we need to make even more sure that you always look your absolute best." Ana chimed.

Mei Li huffed and crossed her arms.

"Hmph. I don't care and I'm _not_ nobility."

"As a matter of fact, I believe you ARE, Lady Mei Li. Your great-great-grandfather-"

"Yes, I know! I know! My great-great-grandfather was the Fire Lord's younger brother. So what? Your great-great-grandfather was someone's brother too!" Mei Li responded childishly. Anaaya decided that it was best to leave it at that. Mei Li could not be reasoned with right now.

"Well, no matter what, I think it's best we get you dressed."

Mei Li sighed and gave in. Anaaya helped her tie her breast bindings and handed Mei Li the robe, who, still reluctantly, shrugged it on as Anaaya moved over to tie the ribbons.

"I heard that General Wu's son came back home from the front last week." Anaaya mentioned. "Shu said that he won the battle for Boazhen." She had overheard two of the maids gossiping yesterday. Shu, the owner of the local grocery store, had told one of them about the news and gossip about the new bachelor in town had reached even Yu.

"Ooh… That's… nice." Mei replied dryly. Ana pulled the hem of her robe straight and folded her sleeves back.

"He is quite handsome, you know, and about your age too." she combed Mei Li's long dark hair. Mei Li frowned at her in the vanity mirror.

"So?"

Anaaya's reflection grinned back at her in the mirror as she started braiding Mei's hair.

"So? He's probably looking for a wife!"

Mei Li shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"Well, good luck to him finding one, but I'm not interested."

"But, my lady! You're already _sixteen_! Your father urged you to find someone soon. It is customary to be betrothed at your age. In fact, some 16-year-old girls are married already!"

Mei Li shook her head, messing up the half-finished braid in the process. Anaaya scowled and sighed, but didn't say a word about it and calmly undid the braid to start over.

"I don't care what's customary! I do not feel like I am ready to be someone's wife. If my father so desperately wants me to marry, he'll have to arrange it himself and drag me down the aisle in chains." Mei replied and crossed her arms. Anaaya opened her mouth to answer, but Mei cut her off.  
"Enough about this now, Ana! I'm not in the mood for this." She said.

Ana's face contorted into a small scowl. Agni, she was only trying to make small talk! She quickly wiped the scowl off her face and replaced it with a placid expression, void of any apparent emotion.

"Yes, my lady. Sorry for mentioning it... I-…I didn't know that you felt so opposed to marriage and it was not my place to remind you of the matter."

Mei sighed and waved her apologies away.

"You could not have known about my feelings regarding this subject, anyway. I'm just glad you've dropped the subject."

Anaaya didn't dare speak up again. What she had meant to be a casual, helpful, conversation, had turned into a tense discussion. Therefore, she just finished the rest of her job in silence.

When she was done, Mei spoke up.  
"I will take my breakfast downstairs, Ana, so you are free to go on with your other duties. I will ask someone to bring me my breakfast myself"

Anaaya nodded in response.

"I'll see to it that all your clothes in need of repair are mended by tomorrow, my lady."

Mei Li ran into one of the servants on her way downstairs and asked for her breakfast to be brought to the study. She had some reading to do. She needed to get her mind off the squabble she had with Anaaya. Ever since her sixteenth birthday a few weeks ago, marriage and betrothal had been a hot topic in the residence, because she was now of marriageable age. There was gossip about several suitable young men who were interested in her amongst the servants, Mei knew. She had overheard them often enough, although they seemed to think that Mei and her mother were oblivious to their gossip in the hallways. Mei, however, wasn't and had no desire to marry anyone anytime soon. The fact that everyone else thought differently infuriated her beyond belief.

She entered the study and picked a book from the shelves. She had started in it yesterday and it had really intrigued her. It was all about the extinct Sun Warriors and their ancient culture, a subject that her teachers had approved of.

Since her father was a high-ranking general, Mei Li was schooled at home, by private teachers. He had made sure to leave her education in the most capable hands, while he was away, though Mei sometimes questioned the worldly knowledge of her teachers. They often refused to teach her about 'non-Fire Nation' subjects.

Because her teachers always blatantly avoided anything that had to do with the other nations or bending arts, Mei Li taught herself from the books she had secretly gathered. She was too curious to just accept that those subjects were off limits. It was hard to come by any literature about the other nations these days though and Mei Li had obtained most of her books via obscure traders for a ridiculous amount of money. To her though, the books were worth every penny.

Mei knew that there were more elements and nations out there, so why not learn about them? If one thing, it would only help them conquer more land and win this war!

Apparently, her teachers took a different view of that. She once proposed 'the Earth Kingdom' as subject to her history teacher. He had become red with anger and had yelled at her for even having the 'ludicrous idea of learning about those savages'. Mei had never mentioned that subject or anything of the like again to any of her teachers.

Instead of that, she taught herself, about the Sun Warriors for example. Fascinating how such a great culture could just vanish. It was said that the Sun Warriors were the first humans to learn fire bending from the dragons. Oh, what she would give to encounter a real dragon!

Right then, one of the kitchen helps entered the study with a tray, breaking her train of thoughts. He eyed her uncertainly.  
"U-uhm… My lady? Y-your breakfast." He spoke shakily and gestured to the tray. Mei smiled at him. He was quite young and always very nervous around her and her father. She guessed he still needed to get used to the way everything went in the household.

"Thank you, Daichi. You can leave it there." She gestured at the corner of the desk she was sitting behind. Daichi quickly put the tray down, trying to steady his hands as much as possible and, with a small bow, quickly made his way out of the room.

She looked at her breakfast. Mmm, her favourite! _And_ even ginseng tea, she noticed, one of her favourites too. This was promising to become a good day, after all. After she had finished her breakfast, she turned back to her book and wondered what it would have been like to live in a Sun Warrior city when it was still inhabited. It must have been truly magnificent…

Anaaya, in the meantime, had busied herself with mending and cleaning numerous pieces of clothing. She had a lot of overdue work to do. Mending was one of the chores she disliked the most, so she had been delaying it as much as possible. Every time she was given something to mend, she had just thrown in on a pile with the rest, telling herself she would do it later that day, which, of course, she never did.

As a result, she was now stuck with hundreds of holes to hide and clothes to adjust.

She winced as the needle pierced her skin. Blood appeared and she put her finger in her mouth to get rid of it. She had to be careful not to get blood on the clothes, or she would be in bigger trouble. She groaned and put the garment down. How she hated this job!

"Hey, Annie!" A lean, green-eyed boy grinned down at her, his eyes twinkling like those of a 8-year-old in a candy shop: Radu, the stable boy. Ana pulled her lips in a straight line and glared at him.

"It's _Anaaya_, Radu. You know that." They had known each other for two years now, but Radu just couldn't stop teasing her about her name.

"Oh, yeah sure, Anika." He ruffled her hair and although Ana glared daggers at him, she had to suppress a smile. Radu noticed and smiled back smugly. When they met, he had gotten her name wrong and, two years later, he kept calling her wrong names because he knew she couldn't stand it.

"You just have such a strange name, you know." He mentioned all of the sudden. Ana frowned.  
"What do you mean?" She continued to work on a blood red robe. It had a few burn holes in it. When serving fire benders it was inevitable to come across some of those.

Radu shrugged and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the table.

"Just that it's a name I've never heard before. Not in the Fire Nation, not in the colonies and not in the Earth Kingdom either." He took a big bite from the apple and chewed on it audibly.

Anaaya pricked herself again and winced. She scowled.

"Like your name is that common."

"Moawr cw'mmon than youws!" He exclaimed, still chewing on the apple. Ana frowned at his bad manners and raised an eyebrow at his mumbles.  
"Sorry, Radu, I didn't quite catch that." She grinned at him and he swallowed his bite.

"I said: more common than yours!"

"Guess my parents were just more original than yours." Ana shrugged and turned her attention back to the garment. She was relieved. For just a moment, she had feared that Radu had suspected something; that he somehow had come to the conclusion that she was Water Tribe. No matter how small that chance, it was still one of the things that she was most fearful of.

"I guess..." Radu mumbled.

After two years of friendship, Anaaya was still afraid that he would find out. It was a secret she wanted no-one to know. Simply because she didn't know what would happen if anyone _did _know.  
She wasn't sure how many people knew… Agni, she wasn't even sure if _Mister Leung_ knew, but she figured that it was best that no-one found out. The less people knew, the less people could get hurt.

A few moments of silence passed, as Radu watched Ana while he ate his apple. Suddenly, he sprang up.

"Hey, wanna check out Mr. Leung's new ostrich horse? It got shipped in today from the Earth Kingdom. It used to belong to some general, I believe, and it's top of the line!" Radu exclaimed excitedly, while making wild gestures with his arms. Ana just shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry, I've got to finish this whole pile before the end of the day." She pointed at the pile of clothes on the table and sighed. Radu clacked his tongue.

"Oh come on! You can take a break! It'll only take, like, fifteen minutes or something!"

Anaaya didn't give in.

"No, I really can't. I-"

"No 'buts'." Radu interrupted her. "You need to loosen up, gal!" And with that, he took her hand and dragged her out the door.

Ana had to admit, it was a truly magnificent thing, that ostrich horse. It's shiny black feathers shone like silk in the sun and its long neck was curved graciously as the animal looked down on them with menacing eyes. The beast was bigger than any ostrich horse she had ever seen and surely was more intimidating too. He carried his size and weight with grace, though, which somehow made him all the more intimidating.

"This is Rajesh." Radu said and reached over the stable-door to stroke the ostrich horse. Rajesh blew air out through his nose in response and snapped at him. Radu quickly retracted his hand, out of reach of the animal's sharp beak.

"He's still getting used to everything." Radu explained and grinned awkwardly.

Anaaya just nodded absentmindedly, not really paying attention to Radu or the ostrich horse, and stared off into the distance. She _should _be mending clothes right now… How was she going to make up for this? She had other chores to do too, so she probably would have to work through the night. She knew that she had set the deadline herself and that it wasn't absolutely necessary for all the mending to be finished by tomorrow, but-

Radu waved his hand in front of her eyes, breaking her train of thoughts. "Hey! You in there?" he asked.

"Huh? Yeah!" Anaaya snapped out of it and nodded, still slightly startled.

"_As I said_," Radu started. "I think that it's a shame that such a great animal has such a foul character towards strangers. I hope that he'll come around, but it's a shame nonetheless, don't you think?"

"Yeah…" Ana nodded and elbowed Radu. "Aah, you'll make him come around, won't you, wonderboy?" Radu grinned smugly.

"Oh well, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." He said jokingly and straightened his jacket. "You should've seen him this morning. He was escaped and went on a rampage. He bit old Li right in the upper arm." said Radu and he imitated the bite with his hand.

"Ey! You there!" A bearded man, who seemed to be far past his sixties, walked towards them.

"Stop jabbering to yer girlfriend fer a sec, will ya? An' get back to work!" The man scolded. Radu nodded obediently and the man shuffled past him. Anaaya giggled at Radu's expression.

"Well, you heard him." She said. "We'd both better get back to work."

"Ooh, that's just old Ping." Radu grinned. "Don't mind him too much, you know that he's kinda crazy. We've still got plenty of time. But if Guan comes, I'm in trouble." Guan was the head animal caretaker and Radu's boss. Ana huffed and crossed her arms.

"I don't even get why Ping still works here. He goofs around all day and no one listens to him anyway! What good is he?"

Radu just shrugged.

"He's basically part of the house. No one knows better than to have Ping wandering around the property. Guess that's why he was never fired. It wouldn't feel the same without him here to nag your ears of." They both laughed.

"Ooh well, _someone's_ gotta do the job." Anaaya joked.

Anaaya and Radu walked over to one of the trees and sat down beneath it. Although it was autumn, the days were still pretty hot. In the night, however, the winter chill was already present, making the nights considerably colder than the days.

Anaaya didn't mind the coming of winter at all. She didn't like the extreme summer heat. As someone of the Water Tribes, she thrived in colder temperatures.

Radu laid back against the trunk of the tree and put a blade of grass in his mouth.

"Have you ever ridden an ostrich-horse before?" Radu asked, totally out of the blue.

"Uhm… No…" Ana answered. She had never ridden any animal before, she had never had the need to either. Ana had spent her whole life working for others and none of her jobs had, thankfully, required riding and travelling.

"Just wondering." Radu said nonchalantly. The grin plastered on his face, however, told Anaaya otherwise. A plan was brewing in his head and he was up to something. She knew it… She just didn't know yet what it was, but it might be best to be on her guard for the following few weeks…

When the sun neared its highest point, Mei Li was still in the study, reading up on complex fire bending forms. Some of them, she had marked and written down in a small notebook. She just _needed _to try these! She wondered if her fire bending teacher would be willing to show her… She couldn't see why not. It was not like she was asking him to teach her water bending or some heathen ritual. No, asking him to show her some fire bending moves wouldn't hurt. She made a mental note to ask him during her next lesson.  
A soft knock on the door caught her attention. Mei Li looked up from her book to see Yu, the residence's house manager, in the door opening. He was a small man with glasses and greying hair. He was a formal, uptight, but kind and just man. As a small child, Mei Li had occasionally gotten on his bad side by disobeying the house rules or breaking stuff, in which cases Yu was a bit less enjoyable than he usually was. She had received exactly what she had deserved from him in those days.

In his hands, he held a letter with a red wax seal on it. Yu stepped towards her and handed her the letter.

"This letter was just delivered for you, Lady Mei Li."

Mei Li took it from him and looked at him in question. He just nodded towards the letter, smiling knowingly at her. Mei looked at the letter and ran her hands over the seal. The pouncing tigerdillo. Her father's seal! Her pulse raced.

"Oh! A letter from father! But that's great!" She locked eyes with Yu, her eyes wide. "Thank you, Yu, for bringing it to me this quickly!" Yu nodded.

"No problem, Mei Li. I already suspected that you would be happy to receive news from your father." He smiled at her and left the room with a small bow.

Mei Li wasted no time and opened the letter immediately. It had been at least two months since she had heard anything from her father. Her insides bubbled with excitement and her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. Had he won from the enemy troops? Was he coming home? What if it wasn't good news? Maybe he was hurt?

When she rolled out the letter, something fell out of it and landed on the table.

It was a silver necklace. Mei Li picked it up and examined it closer. From the chain hung a flame-shaped silver pendant with a teardrop-shaped red stone in its centre. The flame reached up from the left side of the ruby, then curved down to the right side in three arcs. At the end of each arc, where the arc and the ruby touched, was a small diamond.

Mei Li stared at it for a moment, breathlessly admiring its beauty. It must have cost a fortune. She laid her hand on the pendant. The pendant responded to her touch. It glowed faintly and warmth emanated from it for a few seconds. Mei gasped in surprise. It probably responded to her fire bending!

Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Mei Li unfolded the letter and started reading.

_My dearest Mei Li,_

_This letter probably will not reach you in less than two months, but that's all right. It takes a lot of time to get a letter across the world, even if we're on the same continent. Now at least you know that I am well and I hope that you are the same. Don't worry about an old man like me too much, Mei Li; I have faced many battles. I am sure that I will be able to face a few more and live to tell the story. _

_Hopefully, you like the little souvenir I included. I saw it in one of the colonies and immediately thought of you. Beautiful and delicate. The red jewel reminded me of your fiery personality. Also see it as something that represents our family, as there are as much diamonds in the pendant as there are people in our small family. The red stone symbolizes the Fire Nation, for it is what unites us all, the very centre of our life. As long as you have this pendant, I am sure that you will never lose sight of yourself and your loved ones._

_The red stone, as I was told by the merchant, is of a very special kind. It is found in the rocks under certain volcanoes and responds to the touch of a fire bender. The Sun Warriors were said to use these gems as flashlights and energy pools. They, according to folklore, were able to store warmth and energy in them and save it for later. _

_I'm sceptical, but why don't you try it? Maybe you'll be able to pull it off. As talented as you are, such a feat wouldn't even surprise me as much as it should!_

_I hope that you like it as much as I do and that you will wear it for years to come. Maybe you'll even be able to wear it on your wedding day?_

Mei frowned. That was a sudden skip of subject… And a weird one too…

_Speaking of which, I hope that you will find someone soon! I have noted some of my old friends about you. They have sons that I believe are appropriate candidates for your hand. Now that you are sixteen, I'm sure that you can expect numerous visits from their sons. Isn't that exciting!_

_I trust that your mother will help you make the right choice and I look forward to meeting my future son-in-law! Agni, I can't wait!_

_But don't do anything rash, my daughter, no matter how head over heels you are for this young gentleman! You have your own and your family's name and honour to think of!_

_Today, I received new orders. I'm afraid that I won't make it home before next year. The Fire Lord is planning big things for the approaching return of Sozin's Comet. I can't go into detail, but I believe that we might come out of this war victoriously! It might all be over by the end of this year!_

_I miss you dearly, my daughter, and I wish that the situation were different and that I could come home right now. That, however, is not the case, but remember, that when I __**do**__ come home, the reunion will be all the sweeter, since the March of Civilization will be completed by that time!_

_All of my love,_

_Your father_

The words hit her like a bomb. Her father wasn't coming home yet. But he expected her to have a fiancé by the time he did… Period.

**Author's Note: **Poor Mei Li… TTnTT Sixteen and to be betrothed.

I know that some of you may find it weird that I claim that marriage at 16 is a very common thing in the Avatar Universe as it's not often mentioned in the series. But remember: Princess Yue was only 14 and she was already betrothed! And there's Eska and Bolin too! Though betrothal, of course, is not necessarily a guarantee that they'll marry young too. In theory, they could be betrothed for _years_ without actually getting married. Judging by the clothing, means of transportation etcetera in the series though, one could state that the universe is somewhat based on the past of our own world. And since marrying at a young age was common for noblewomen all over the world in the past... Yeah… I think that we can conclude that that also was the case in the Avatar Universe. What do you think? Does that make sense? :P

I'll be back with another chapter!

In the meantime review and tell me what you think! :) Or send me a PM! I like PM's too! 3


	3. Chapter 2: Advise

**Author's Note:** Tadaaaa! Told you I'd be back. I'm kinda getting into a flow! That's a first. Usually, I start a fic and then never finish it… :/ I think it's a shame to upload one chapter and then never finish the story, which is why I never uploaded anything before. I have at least 20 drafts and several chapters of different stories. :P (Yes, it's that bad) Maybe, now that this is finally getting somewhere, I'll be able to finally finish all those other stories too! But only once this is over, of course!

Hope you like it so far! Here's another chapter:

**DISCLAIMER: **I DO NOT OWN NICKELODEON'S AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS! (Not even the giant friendly 'mushroom'!:() I just pit Azula's cherries! :D

**Chapter 2: Advise**

"Focus, Mei Li!"

Mei Li stopped moving and bent over, her hands resting on her knees. Her breath was ragged and sweat trickled down her face. She wiped it away and let out a groan of frustration. She was so worked up! Nothing went the way it was supposed to go today! Even her basics were sloppy! _You gotta get your act together!_ She told herself.

She met Master Jin Huo's gaze as he stared down at her, a frown present on his face. His posture, as always, was rigid and stern and his hands were folded behind his back. After a few moments of silence, he nodded.

"Go on."

Mei Li straightened and got back in the appropriate battle stance. After she drew out a deep breath, she performed the fire bending form again. She tried to push everything else from her mind and said each part of the form 'aloud' in her head as she moved along. _Right foot forward. Punch. Roundhouse kick and duck._ _Focus on your energy_, she told herself while executing the form, _feel it move through your body, to your limbs, out your hands._ _Low sweep. Step. Stretch arms. High-kick and step. Whoa!_ Mei Li's feet landed in a weird position and she was barely able to keep herself from falling over. She restored her balance just in time and scolded herself. _How could that have happened? That wasn't even a difficult move!_ She sighed and collected herself. She needed to _focus._ _Flip. Butterfly kick and crouch. The end_. She sighed. Although she wasn't proud of her performance, she hoped that Jin Huo would find her form adequate and move on with the lesson. She was not doing well today _at all _and wanted nothing more than to wash up and be left alone. She was determined to do better next time though. She couldn't let all these worries over marriage and stuff get in the way of her fire bending. She would have to-

A '_swoosh_' behind her made her turn her head; just in time to come face to face with a fire ball. She flung herself aside and jumped to deflect the flames with her own fire bending. She landed and faced her master with wide eyes. Her breathing was shallow and sweat was trickling down her face from the heat of the fire.  
What was he doing? Why had he done that in the first place? What was wrong with him? Who did he think he was, just going around and attacking his pupil without warning! Mei frowned at him. The older man, however, just looked at her with a stern look on his face.

"Never _ever_ keep your back to your opponent for longer than necessary." He said coldly. Mei's frown disappeared and was replaced by a look of shame. She shook her head at her stupidity and sat down on the ground. She grumbled under her breath. Why hadn't she thought of that?! In any other situation she probably would have stayed angry at her teacher for attacking her, but Jin Huo was right… It had been stupid of her to turn her back to him for that long. In real combat, she would have been killed.

"You performed better than last time, though." Despite her foolish action, at least he gave her _some_ credit! Mei Li chuckled bitterly

"However, I can tell that something is occupying your mind, Mei Li, and it's throwing you out of balance. You're much better than you're showing me today. We both know that. You have more than once bested me whilst sparring. What is it that troubles you this much?" Jin Huo spoke as he walked over to Mei Li. He stopped before her and met her eye, a genuinely worried expression on his face. The stern façade that he wore as a teacher was gone and was replaced with something that she recognized as 'the worried mentor'.

Mei Li sighed and shook her head.

"It's just… things…" She waved it away, but Jin Huo wasn't one to give up. He had always been able to see right through her

"Tell me about it. It might help you." Mei Li sighed and stood up. She walked away from him while shaking her head vigorously.

"I don't want to talk about it, Sir." She said. _All you'll probably say is "I told you so"._ She added in mind. She and Jin Huo had had an argument about this not too long ago.

Just like Anaaya, he had been talking about the bachelors in town. Mei Li had made it clear that she was not interested. At which Jin Huo had seemed quite surprised and he had asked her to reconsider. A girl her age and class should already have been seeking a husband and, surely, her father would soon come with his own propositions. Mei Li had argued him at that: she was sure that her father would allow her to marry whom and when she saw fit! How wrong she had been!

And how foolish she would look if he knew what her father had written to her!

Jin Huo put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"It's not always what we want that is best for us and those around us." He said knowingly. Mei turned to him, but kept her eyes cast to the ground. She played with the hem of her sparring tunic.

"You know, don't you?" She mumbled, her voice small like that of a child.

"I had my presumptions." He admitted. "Few girls your age and class are _not_ going through the same right now." Mei Li dared to meet his gaze and he smiled at her sadly.

A few moments of silence passed.

"What should I do? I really don't want to become someone's wife yet…" She mumbled. Jin Huo shook his head in response.

"I understand, but I can't tell you what to do." He shot her a gleeful smile, in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Just wait it out. One of those bachelors might actually turn out to be your prince charming!"

Mei Li huffed and crossed her arms. Not a chance! Jin Huo sensed her scepticism and chuckled. "Weirder things have happened, Mei Li! You've got to give it a chance."

Mei Li sighed. He was right… _again_…

Anaaya hummed as she moved through the chamber, broom in hand. As a lady's maid, it was her job to clean the Lady's room and make it presentable. Every day, when Mei Li left for lessons early in the morning, Ana took advantage of her absence and cleaned her rooms.

She had just cleared all the laundry and had put the clean clothes back in the wardrobe. She was now dusting every piece of furniture and every knick-knack that she saw. She was always extra careful with Mei Li's souvenirs. Mei's father and some of her other family members would often send her gifts from all over the world. All of those gifts, from the small painted vase to the Ember Island fans and from the ivory komodo rhino to the hand-carved puppets, meant a lot to Mei, knew Anaaya.

She picked up the komodo rhino and brushed the smooth, white surface with her thumb. It was cool to the touch. Ana inspected the details on the little sculpture. The sharp horns, the menacing eyes, the rhino even had a decorated saddle and if Ana looked very closely, she could make out the flower pattern on it. What exquisite craftsmanship! Anaaya gently placed the rhino back, afraid that she might drop it and moved on.

Suddenly, Mei Li barged into the room. Anaaya was startled and accidentally dropped the duster. Good thing that she had just put the rhino back in its place!

"Lady Mei Li!" She exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon." She curtsied, picked up her things and scurried towards the door.

"Oh, I'll be gone in a second, Anaaya. No need to leave." Mei Li sent a small smile at her lady's maid. "Just… Stay." She bit her bottom lip. "Please?..."

Ana nodded and stood at the side of the bed awkwardly as Mei Li moved over to the water basin to freshen up. Anaaya rocked back and forth on her feet. She felt incredibly uncomfortable in this situation. Normally, she would have left the room. It was uncommon for a maid to be in the same room as her mistress if there was no direct purpose for it.

"Do you know where we left my robe yesterday, Anaaya?" Mei Li asked. She moved a few objects in order to find it, but was unsuccessful.

"I left your clothes on the stool behind the folding screen, my lady." Anaaya answered. Mei Li looked up and nodded.  
"Aah yeah, I remember now." She moved behind the screen and Ana walked over to help her.

"Oh it's okay, Anaaya, I can manage to dress myself on my own." Mei declined her help, though, and Ana walked back to her previous spot, feeling even more awkward than before. Mei pulled her top over her head and flung it over the screen.  
"Soooo…. How was training, my lady? You returned early." Anaaya asked, in an attempt to fill the silence. Mei Li froze and a moment of silence passed before she answered.

"Actually… I-it was disaster." She said bitterly. "I couldn't do a single thing right." Ana frowned. Mei Li was a fire bending prodigy to her judgment. Not that she was an expert at fire bending, but from what she had seen, Mei Li was more than decent. Hearing that her lesson was a failure was… surprising.

"Oh… I'm so sorry to hear that. Is that… Is that why you came back earlier than usual?"

"Yeah… I figured that it would be fruitless to keep on trying and that it would be better to try again later… After I've cleared my head." Mei Li bent over to take off her shoes and flung them to the side.

Anaaya nodded in response, although Mei Li couldn't quite see her.

"I think, if I may say so, that that was a smart thing to do, my lady." Anaaya said. Mei groaned and shimmied out of her pants.  
"It's just so frustrating, though." She flung her pants over the screen too. "This whole situation, I mean."

"Your fire bending?" asked Anaaya. Mei Li shook her head.  
"No, no… Or… Yeah well, that too, but I actually meant the whole situation with my father. It's so frustrating, you know, because I just can't see a way out of it yet and I'm sure that it's affecting my fire bending." She answered. Anaaya frowned. Mei Li was either jabbering or she had some important news Ana knew nothing about yet.  
"I beg your pardon, my lady, but I don't think that I was informed of said situation."

"Oh… H-haven't I told you? My father wants me to marry." Mei Li spat the words out with disgust, like they were poison to her.

"Oh…" Ana looked at the floor in a loss of words. She had not forgotten Mei Li's abhorrence to marriage.

"Well…. That is actually wonderful news… I mean… Your parents must be happy a-and I'm sure that your future in-laws will be blessed with a daughter like you. A-and…." Ana sighed. "Well, look at it this way, my lady… At least now you know what is expected of you. Many girls would gladly switch places with you! It's really a shame that you are..." Ana hesitated to finish her sentence.

"Unwilling to marry?" Mei Li finished for her, a bitter tone present in her voice.  
"Erhm…" Anaaya hesitated. She searched for other words, but couldn't find any. "Uhm… Yes… To be honest, my lady, I think that you are quite lucky… And I understand were you are coming from, I _really_ do, but…. It could've been worse, right? Maybe it won't even be so bad?" Ana continued in an attempt to cheer her mistress up.

The door cracked open. Anaaya turned towards the sound to see a head appear in the door opening. Radu. He opened his mouth to speak.

Anaaya's eyes widened and she gestured at him to go away. She pointed towards Mei Li's shadow behind the screen.

"Is someone there, Anaaya?" Mei Li asked from behind the screen. Radu's eyes widened in realization and he quickly disappeared.

"Uhm… N-no… It…erhm… It was just the wind." Ana said and moved over to the door to close it. "There. Now it's closed again." She answered awkwardly.

"Ooh… Okay, I swear I heard footsteps, though." Mei slid into the robe and stepped into her slippers.

"Must have been some servant in the hallway." Anaaya lied. Mei stepped out from behind the screen and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I'm going downstairs now." She said. "Mrs. Ming should be here around noon for my etiquette lessons. Hopefully that'll keep my mind off of… things."

Ana nodded curtly. After a few moments of silence, she looked Mei Li in the eye and smiled sympathetically.

"It'll turn out fine, my lady. Most of the generals have sons that are quite appealing to the eye." She said and smiled girlishly. Mei Li gaped at her lady's maid's boldness and blushed.

"Ana! That's just… I'm not going to marry someone just because he looks good!" She yelled.

"You can't deny it, my lady." Ana replied. "Though it shouldn't be_ all_ about looks, looks _do_ matter… And concerning looks, you certainly could have done worse... Much worse." She knew that she was taking huge liberties by talking to her mistress like this, but Mei Li seemed too shocked to mind right now.

"That may be,…" Mei Li admitted. "but I just want to marry whom _I _want to marry. I know that I've probably told you that before and I realize that it could've been much worse, but I don't want my choices narrowed down beforehand! It just feels like I'm not getting a fair chance…" Mei Li sighed and bit her bottom lip, pondering over what she just said.

"I see what you mean, my lady, but few have that liberty." Anaaya said. Her girlish demeanour was replaced by a grim seriousness and she stared at the ground.

"Even I, whom you seem to think of as free, can't choose whomever I want to marry. I can't just marry anyone. Imagine me, a servant, marrying a nobleman or even a captain." Ana huffed at the ridiculousness.

"Even the Fire Nation's own princess does not have that liberty. Few in the Fire Nation will approve of Princess Azula marrying a hobo, whether she loves him or not. And, I imagine, her father, our great Fire Lord, _certainly_ wouldn't." She paused and took a deep breath.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is: no matter who you are and where you come from, love is never easy."

She glanced up for a moment, but cast her eyes back down when she noticed that Mei Li was looking at her. She felt Mei Li put a hand on her arm.

"Thank you." She said softly and squeezed her arm lightly. With that she exited the room and Anaaya was left standing there, mulling over her own words.

Ana carried the basket across the small patio to the washing lines. This was the last chore she had to do today. Hua had arranged it so that she had the rest of the day off and Ana had decided to work on a little project of hers. Hua's birthday was coming up and Ana had decided to gift her an embroidered shawl. She had been working on it in secret for a few weeks now and she was finally getting somewhere. A yellow dragon and small yellow flames would decorate the shawl once she was finished. Or at least… That was her intention… She wasn't a star at embroidering, so she wasn't sure if she would be able to pull it off.

Ana dropped the basket once she got to the lines and pinned garment after garment to the line. She hummed a Water Tribe lullaby her mother used to sing to her and worked on idly.

"Hiya!" A figure burst out from behind the clothes on the line and Ana jumped in terror.

Radu broke into a fit of laughter at her reaction. Ana pouted and crossed her arms angrily.  
"THAT WASN'T FUNNY, RADU!" She scolded. Radu grinned at her widely.  
"But Annie, you should've seen your face!" He exclaimed and nearly burst into another fit of laughter. Ana just shook her head and carried the basket to the other end of the washing lines.

"Hey! Wait!"

Radu followed her to the next clothing line. Ana ignored him and carried on with her job.

Radu disappeared behind the line of clothes and occasionally popped his head out while talking to her.

"Hehe that situation this morning with Lady Mei Li was quite awkward… Sorry 'bout that."

Anaaya shrugged.

"It turned out fine, but you shouldn't enter the private quarters anyway, Radu. You know that all too well."

"But they're never there that time of the day anyway!"

"Well, Mei Li _was_ now, wasn't she?"

Radu rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah… you're right… Are you sure she didn't notice anything?"

Anaaya shook her head.

"Positive. I told her the wind blew the door open."

Radu smiled. "Neat."

A few moments of silence passed as Anaaya worked on and Radu slipped between the pieces of clothing, probably pretending to be navigating through a jungle.

"You know, I didn't just come here to annoy you." He said suddenly. Ana rolled her eyes in response.

"Oh really?" She said sarcastically. Radu poked his head out.

"Nope, girlie. I came her to tell you something _very_ important."

Ana chuckled. "And what might that be?"

"Well… Remember how last week you were mending the clothes and I came in? And then we went to the stables to see Rajesh and then Ping came along and then we sat down beneath that tree. Do you remember? The big one near the stables, with the great climbing branches, the one we used to play beneath when we were… Oh wait, of course, you didn't live here then… Well… Never mind, anyway-" Anaaya interrupted Radu's rambles.

"Just get to the point already, Radu."

"Okay, okay." He released a deep breath. "Remember how you told me that you had never ridden an animal before?" He said, now calm.

Ana nodded.

"Well… Guess what?" Radu said, a wide grin on his face.

Anaaya frowned at him. She knew that look on his face all too well and didn't like it one bit…

"I'm going to teach you how to ride an ostrich-horse!" Radu exclaimed. An ecstatic grin adorned his face. Ana looked at him with a frown.  
"Isn't that exciting?" He continued. When he noticed the look on her face, his smile faltered and his enthusiasm faded. "Oh… You're not excited…" He said gloomily.

Anaaya shook her head.

"_No way_ that I'm getting on one of those things!"

"Aah come on!" Radu begged. "It'll be fun and you'll learn something new! I thought you liked to learn new stuff!"

"Well, then that's just something I don't wish to learn." Anaaya replied stubbornly and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I feel no desire to sit on some animals back and torture it into doing as I will. Besides there's no need for me to learn how to ride, anyway." Radu grinned. He knew how to play his friend.

"Tsk…" He huffed and crossed his arms. "You're just afraid! Afraid of a stupid animal!"

"I am _not_!" Anaaya retorted. "I just don't think it's appropriate for me-"

"Oh yes you are!" Radu got behind her and ruffled her hair. "Afraid you'll fall of its back?"

Ana scowled and smoothened down her hair.

"Of course not! It's just that I'm not interested in learning how to ride and besides… I've got loads of work to do." The latter was a lie… but Radu didn't need to know that. Radu just smirked.

"I get it. A girlie girl like you… I don't know why I was expecting anything else."

"I am _not_ a girlie girl!" Ana replied through gritted teeth.

"Then prove it to me! Prove it; by riding that ostrich-horse!" He paused and looked her in the eye. "Make it a race. Race me on an ostrich-horse. Or are you afraid to lose too, girlie girl?" Radu asked tauntingly, a smug smirk on his face. Ana narrowed her eyes at him.

"Will you shut up and let me do my job if I give it a try?" She replied and extended her hand to him.

"Sure!"

He grabbed her hand and shook it.

"Then it's a deal!"

"It is customary for the hostess to serve tea at certain occasions. As you know, there is a tea ceremony that a woman like you should be able to perform." Ming picked up the small tea pot and poured tea into the two cups before her. Despite her age, her old hands moved gracefully and accurately.

"One should always serve everyone present in the room in order of status, age and gender. The oldest highest ranking man in the room receives the tea first, lastly the youngest lowest ranking woman in the room receives her tea." Ming handed Mei Li the cup, who took it with both hands and stared into the dark swirling liquid.

"If two people with the same rank are present, the eldest of the two should receive the tea first. When you're not sure of someone's status, just serve them in order of age."

Mei Li frowned. "Soooo… What if I don't know their status nor their age?"

Ming smiled at her. The smile enhanced the crow's feet in the corners of her eyes.

"Well my young Mei Li, spirits forbid you ever find yourself in that position." Ming wagged her finger at the girl in front of her. "As a wife and daughter it is your duty to know your guests or at least know about them."

"But… that's… that's ridiculous! I can't know those things about _everyone_!" Mei retorted.

"Of course not! Don't worry my dear," Ming took her hand and patted on it. "surely you'll never have the whole town over for tea!... Though maybe you will…" Ming wondered out loud. Mei shot her a startled look and waited for her to explain herself further…but she didn't.

"Trust me, you'll be fine if you just remember the status, function and age of nobility and all military officials." Ming smiled widely at Mei, who just stared at her teacher, dumbfounded.

"_Just?!_ Ming, the Fire Nation has thousands of military officials and noblemen! How can anyone expect from someone to know them all?" Mei exclaimed incredulously.

"Don't worry dear, we'll take it step by step." Ming reassured her. "Even_ I_ don't know absolutely everyone I'm supposed to know and I have over 50 years of experience!" She winked at her.

Mei Li sighed.  
"Now _that's_ a relief!" She said sarcastically. Ming ignored her comment and continued with her lesson.

"Let's give it a try. This one shouldn't be too difficult: you're serving tea to the Royal Family. The Fire Lord, his two children and General Iroh, the Dragon of the West, are sitting in front of you-"

Mei Li giggled and Ming raised an eyebrow at her.

"What's funny?"

"I just find it hard to imagine those four even being in the _same room_ together, let alone having _tea_! I mean, I don't know if you've noticed, but Ozai and Zuko are not exactly on good terms right now."

Ming sighed in aggravation and pinched the bridge of her nose.  
"_Must_ you get political, Mei Li?" she said. "You should learn _not_ to mention any political issues when in company of guests! It is simply uncalled for. A lady must entertain her guests and should make small talk, not debate political or military matters. On top of that, it is preferable to call them _Fire Lord_ Ozai and _Prince_ Zuko !"

Mei Li frowned. "I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that the _Fire Lord_ deprived his son of the right to the throne… So he isn't really a prince any-"

"I'm just trying to teach you something, Mei Li!" Ming interrupted. "You _must_ be respectful to those above you and you must _never_ drop someone's title unless you are asked to do so. Whether Prince Zuko is factually still a prince or not doesn't matter."

Mei Li nodded silently. She had to agree with that. Not everyone was happy with the actions Ozai took against his own son. Therefore many still considered Zuko a prince, though officially, he wasn't anymore. And she was well aware that she should _never _call the Fire Lord by just his first name out of respect. He had lost her respect a long time ago, though. Even though Mei _did _admire him for some things, like his ability to keep the war going and keep his subjects loyal(or at least loyal enough to avoid any major problems), she loathed him for his cruelty. In contrast to most Fire Nation citizens, Mei knew the harshness and reality of the war through her father's military reports. He had forbidden her to read them, but that hadn't stopped her from secretly taking a peek anyway.

A knock on the door made Ming get to her feet. She slowly, but dutifully, made her way to the door and opened it.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Ming, but Mrs. Jeung wishes to speak with Mei Li for a moment." Yu said apologetically and shifted his gaze to Mei.

"Your mother is waiting for you in the sitting room and has asked for you to join her, Mei Li."

Mei was surprised.  
"My mother is home already? I thought she would stay away till at least Friday?"

Yu nodded.

"She returned early." He responded, not elaborating on the subject. "Now, come, you don't want to keep her waiting. She has a long tiring trip behind her, but wanted to speak to you before she took a rest."

"Oh… It must be important then…"

"I suppose so."

Mei Li stood up and excused herself to Ming. She followed Yu into the hall.

"Do you know what she wants to talk about?" Mei Li asked nervously. She and her mother weren't exactly close, so it was quite alarming for her mother to summon her like this.

"I have no idea, my lady, but she was incredibly delighted when she came home, so it must be good news." Yu reassured her.

Mei hoped that he was right. She could use some good news, though lately 'good news' seemed to mean something else to her than it did to those around her.

After knocking on the door, she was let in by one of the maids and stood in front of the couch her mother was sitting on.

"Oh Mei Li, my dear! There you are!" her mother squealed. "Come, take a seat." She patted on the cushions next to her. Mei Li, however, didn't budge. Her mother was acting weird.

"What is it that you needed to speak me about, mother?" Mei asked harshly. Her mother's smile faltered for only a brief moment.

"Why are you home anyway? I thought you were going to stay with Uncle for a couple of days?" she continued.

"Yes, that was my intention, but your aunt didn't feel well yesterday, so I ordered for my luggage to be packed again and left. She needs lots of rest, something she won't get when I'm there." her mother inspected her long fingernails, then shifted her gaze to Mei. "Besides I absolutely couldn't wait to share the wonderful news with you!"

Mei frowned. "What wonderful news?"

"Well, while I was there, I met the most wonderful young man, Mei Li! Such a charming, not to mention handsome, young man! I'm sure you'll like him too once you meet him!" she said and smiled at Mei widely. Mei's heart skipped a beat in terror, she had a vague idea where this was going.

"Once I meet him?" Mei raised an eyebrow.

"Yes! Of course! I invited him and his parents over for dinner!" her mother responded gleefully. "Oh, I told him so much about you, Mei Li! He's been looking for a wife and really liked what I told him about you! He said that he simply couldn't wait to get to know you better."

"Well, I _can_ wait!" Mei spat and crossed her arms. Her mother glared at her.

"Mei! Show some respect! I didn't go through all this trouble for you to be yelled at! You'd better appreciate it!"

Mei huffed.

"Well, there isn't much to be appreciated, is there? I don't want to marry yet, mother!"

"Too bad for you, Mei Li, but you're not going to have much of a choice! I never said that you have to marry _this _man, but you've got to hurry; at least start searching! For spirits sake, you're sixteen already!"

"So?"

"So?! I had you at _seventeen_! Your father and I had married the year before and had been betrothed since my 14th birthday._ I_ didn't get to endlessly wait for Prince Charming either!"

"Oh so that's what this is about?" Mei retorted. "You never had a choice, so you're not letting me have a choice either?" Was it just her or was the room getting hotter?

Her mother sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"_Of course not_. I can't help it that women in this society marry young, Mei Li. It's just one of those things that is the way it is." She sounded tired, like she was explaining Mei how to open the door for the 1000th time and she still didn't get it.

"Your father and I have agreed that we can wait no longer. So start acting mature and stop avoiding your responsibilities."

"I'm not avoiding my responsibilities!" Mei argued. "I'm avoiding living the rest of my life unhappy."

"Being in an arranged marriage has nothing to do with happiness. My marriage was an arranged one and aren't I happy?" her mother shot back.

"Are you really, mom?" Mei Li sneered. "Are you _really_?"

She turned around and walked out the door.

"I can't believe I really thought that you were going to let me design my own life."

"Okay, do you feel like you're steady in the saddle?"

Ana looked at her hands in which she held the reins awkwardly. Radu had helped her up and was now on his own ostrich horse next to her.

"Uhm… I-uh… guess so… As steady as I'll ever be."

"Okay then. Now, you wanna adjust the stirrups, otherwise your feet aren't in the right position and you can't give the ostrich horse any orders." Radu said. Ana sent him a blank look.  
"Uhm…The what-nows?"

Radu moved his ostrich horse closer to hers and reached for the straps with the triangles on the end-which apparently were the stirrups. He shortened the straps, then went over to the other side and did the same.

"Here, put your feet in them." He observed as she did exactly what he said. He looked her in the eye. "Are you ready?"

Ana took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay. Squeeze its sides slightly with both of your legs." Radu said. "Like this."

He squeezed his legs and the ostrich horse started walking. Ana copied his movements, but the animal didn't move. She tried again, but the animal still didn't comply.

"Come on! Walk, you stupid animal!"

Radu snickered.

"Come on, Ana, it's not that difficult. Just squeeze a bit harder."

Ana dug her heels into the ostrich horse's sides, harder than before this time. To her amazement, the ostrich horse started walking.

"Spirits, Radu! I did it!"

Radu smiled at her. "There you go! I told you it wasn't difficult!" As the ostrich horses paced along, Radu explained Anaaya how to halt the animal again. They tried it a few times and to Ana's surprise it actually worked. _Maybe I'm not as bad at this as I thought._

All of the sudden a pygmy puma jumped out of the bushes and crossed the path. The ostrich horse screeched loudly and, without warning, sped off.

"Oh spirits! Whaaaaa, Radu! Heeelp!" Ana screamed as she clung onto the animal for her dear life. She moved to and fro on the animal's back, barely able to stay on its back, as it ran along the path.

Radu quickly got into action. He urged his ostrich horse to go faster and manoeuvred it next to her.

"Just stay calm okay?"

"I'm trying!" Ana gripped onto the reins tightly, making sure not to pull on them. She didn't know much about riding an ostrich horse, but was afraid of what the animal might do if she pulled at the reins.

"Try to maintain your balance, okay?" Radu advised her. Anaaya gritted her teeth. _Yeah, easy for you to say!_ she thought. Ana still felt incredibly uncomfortable on the animal. To her it felt like she was balancing on a rope, instead of sitting on an animal's back. Not that she was doing much sitting right now anyway… It was more bouncing actually… She tried with all her might not to fall off the devilish creature, but it was to no avail.

Before she knew what happened, she plummeted to the ground and, with a loud thud, hit the sand. She put a hand to her forehead and, since she was feeling quite dizzy, sat up slowly. Her body was sore where it hit the ground.

"Ouch, are you okay?" Radu asked. He dismounted and sat down next to her, worry etched on his face. Anaaya nodded.

"I'm okay. Just some bruises." She felt his eyes on her as he examined her closely to make sure that she had no injuries. When he had assured himself that she was fine, he got up and offered her his hand. She accepted it gladly and got back to her feet.

With the burden of its rider gone, the ostrich horse seemed to have come to its senses. Anaaya could see it standing some distance away. She looked at it for a moment and wondered why she had ever climbed on it in the first place.

"You weren't even half that bad, you know?" Radu said. "Wanna try it again sometime?"

"Nah… I've had enough. For now, at least." She shot him a grin and held her arms out. "I've got bruises to spare."

Radu grinned back at her and shrugged. "Fair enough."

**Author's Note: **Phew, well, that was another chapter… They're getting longer and longer each time… ^_^" I'll try to keep it within boundaries :P

Hope you liked it. :) Just so you know… I'm no expert in ethics, nor tea ceremonies, nor horse back riding… So don't flame me if it isn't right. :( I tried to do my research, but some things you just can't get right from just the internet alone. Plus, some things had to be changed a bit to fit into the story. :/ I hope it wasn't too bad. ^_^"


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